


Helm to Grasp

by Caligraphunky



Category: Motorcity
Genre: Grooming, Orphans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 07:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/631881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caligraphunky/pseuds/Caligraphunky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No KaneCo orphan is ever left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helm to Grasp

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be three parts, but it went over like a lead balloon on tumblr. I don't think it's bad but...Oh well.
> 
> I like thinking about the pasts of these characters. It's a weakness.

_“DNA match: 67 percent. Obedience match: 91 percent.”_

The machine wasn’t much more than a giant blue cylinder connected by a cable to a white box, but it was daunting to the five or so children lined up to be scanned. They fidgeted and squirmed in line while the Temporary Parental Substitute went down the line and gingerly touched the back of their heads to calm them.

Abraham Kane watched the screen, stealing only occasional glances upwards to make sure the T.P.S was doing her job. Orphan Reassignment Day was a chore but it was also a necessity: whenever a child lost their parents they were required to spend the first five years of their lives in KaneCo Temporary Youth Internment Groups before Kane himself picked the best of them for his Elite guard and the rest were assigned to childless household.

_“Temperament match: 23 percent. Athleticism match: 45 percent.”_

“Too bad,” Kane remarked to his assistant. “He could have at least been a grunt with the right training.”

“Are you sure, sir?”

KaneCo DNA Readers projected the development and skills a young child would take over the course of the child’s life, which it would then compare to the most successful examples of the possible fields and chose the best KaneCo career for the individual.

The overall effectiveness rate of the matches was 99 percent. Kane looked up at the silhouette of the child through the blue Plexiglas.

Kane realized he could see the boy’s knees knocking together in the scanner, his small body hunched over on itself and his arms folded over. It wasn’t the posture of a future solider by any means.

“Maybe after a lot of training…” Kane half-heartedly muttered to himself. He turned his stern gaze back to the screen, examining the readings with a cold frown. Ten kids had gone through so far, and this batch wasn’t turning out many that were suitable to join Kane’s army. The regular recruitment campaigns were mostly bringing in grunts rather than commander material. There was always a need for followers, it was true, but Kane needed leaders.

_“Intelligence match: 98 percent.”_

“Well now!” Kane exclaimed with a grin, and pressed the “Stop Scan” button on the holoscreen.

“Sir, the test isn’t finished yet. Surely you’ll want to wait until we-”

“That’s all I need to know about this one. Skip the family. He’ll be better off in the Youth Programming Wing.”

“Sir-”

“Programming.”

The assistant hesitated, then nodded. He turned to the T.P.S and called “next!”

In the half-dark room, the T.P.S shot the assistant a searching look as the boy in the container flinch from the shout. The door opened with a slight hiss, and a skinny blond child stumbled out. He shakily made his way to the Youth Reassignment Officers, clutching a stuffed brown dog.

The T.P.S. put her hand on the shoulder of the next child in line and led him toward the machine.

Kane leaned forward a little, adjusting his seat and watching the kid march forward.

He was a stocky child, short and thin, but strong for his age. The contrast of his brown skin and messy mop of brown hair was lessened in the darkened room, and he stood as tall and straight as he could, trying to stare the machine down with his fists clinched as tight as he could, making himself big to scare a monster.

“You ready, son?” Kane punched a button and the doors on the other side of the scanner slid open.

“Yessir,” the boy stared into the cabinet and took a deep breath, screwing up his face into the best approximation of adult courage he could. Kane rubbed his chin.

“What’s your name?”

“Mike. Uh, Chilton, sir.”

“You scared, Mike?”

“No…nosir.”

The Temporary Parental Substitute glanced down at Mike and did a double take. “Mike? What did you do with your doll? Where’s Mr. Mutt?”

Mike glanced at her for only a moment before turning back to the scanner. “I gave him to that kid before me ‘cause he was scared.”

“Alright,” the assistant broke in, “Step in the scanner and keep your breathing even.”

Mike took a deep breath and did as he was told. The scanner whirred to life and the doors shut, leaving only a small silhouette, standing as still as it possibly could.

 _“Name: Mikhail Chilton,”_ the even robotic voice of the scanner intoned. _“Age: 7.54.”_

Abraham Kane settled in to watch the screen.

_“Scanning…Retrieving age projection results…”_

The assistant adjusted the papers on his clipboard.

_“Scanning…Please wait…”_

The whirring from the cabinet reached its peak. The mechanisms whirled around the circumference of the cabinet, obscuring the figure of the boy inside.

_“Scan complete. Comparing results to top KaneCo Military Elites…DNA match: 93 percent.”_

Kane cracked a small cautious smile.

_“Obedience match: 89 percent.”_

Kane’s smile grew wider with every new reading.

_“Temperament match: 94 percent. Athleticism match: 98 percent. Intelligence ma-”_

“Sir, I really think you should let these scans finish! I built that machine to read important data that you’re not-”

“I think I know what data I need to organize my citizens, Hudson.”

Dr. Hudson bristled a little, staring at the back on Kane’s head as he strode over to the DNA Reader, and then turned back to his papers, frowning.

Kane watched Mike walk unsteadily out of the chamber, trying to hold himself straight and blinking rapidly to clear the spots from his eyes. The boy looked up at Kane, trying to hold his eyes, like he was about to have a discussion with an equal.

“Son,” Kane started with a grin, “I think you and I have something to discuss.”

“Yessir?” Mike’s fists unclenched and Kane could no longer see the small knuckles forming peaks on the boy’s hands.

“I think,” Kane said, rubbing his chin in a theatrical way like he was slowly coming to a careful conclusion and speaking way too brightly, in the way adults do when they don’t know how to talk to kids, “the place you’d fit the very best in is in KaneCo’s army!”

The Temporary Parental Substitute cut in with alarm. “Oh, sir, he’s very young still, and he’s so…Well, I think it would be best if he were placed in a family situation before he was trained to-”

“Nonsense!” Kane gestured towards the boy like he was in one of his commercials showing off the latest piece of KaneCo technology, “my army is the best family this child could have!”

Mike’s face lit up uncontrollably. Kane winked at him and added, “biggest too.”

“Sir-“ but the T.P.S. deflated before she could continue. “Of course, sir.”

“Keep up the scans, Hudson. I’ve got to show Recruit Chilton to his new home!”

Hudson took a deep breath and took his place at the controls, leaning over them, and sliding his fingers across the screen.

“Next…”

Mike eagerly followed Kane out of the room and down the hall, looking for all like a puppy following the one person it’s met who gave it some jerky, skipping steps in his attempt to keep with Kane’s brisk pace.

“Excited there, Mike?”

Mike looked up at him with a grin. “Oh yeah! I mean yessir!”

“You know what you’ll be doing once you’re old enough?”

“Sure! I learned all about it in class! The army makes sure everyone’s safe and protected from all the bad stuff that comes from under the dome.” The boy recited this with the air of someone who couldn’t quite remember something they were trying to memorize. He’d been learning the basics his entire life, but what kid that age has a head for the details?

“There certainly is a lot of that. And you want to protect Deluxe from it?”

“I really like helping people,” said Mike, matter of fact.

“Well, Mike…” Kane stopped and turned around to face the boy trailing behind him, “I’ve got no doubt you can rise to the very top. But there’s still something that you need to know before you can help anyone in my army.”

Mike’s eyes widened in curiosity and apprehension. Kane knelt down to him, propping his arm on one knee to look the boy in the eyes.

“In order to be part of this army…this family,” Kane gestured for Mike to come in close so they could speak in confidence, “you need to be strong and brave.”

He put a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “People who run away or complain that things are too hard or cry when it gets rough don’t help anyone, and the rest of the people who are trying to help don’t like it either. When you work in an army, you have to give your all no matter what your job is.”

Kane took his hand off Mike’s shoulder and stuck it out for Mike to shake.

“Can I count on you?”

Mike looked at his hand then back into his eyes, swallowed hard, and grabbed his giant hand with his own tiny one.

“I can do it!”

Kane smiled.

“Perfect. Let’s get you set up in the youth barracks, huh son?”

He stood up, and led Mike down the hall to the tram that would take them across Deluxe.


End file.
